CHARGER INVITE: Harmon, Shadow Ridge blaze into Copper semifinals of Charger Invitational

Shadow Ridge softball coach Cynthia Winter calls sophomore Mandy Harmon predominantly a finesse pitcher. But Harmon showed she has some power in her arsenal, too.

Harmon escaped two jams with key strikeouts and fanned 10 in all to lead the Mustangs to a 4-1 victory over Green Valley at the Charger Invitational on Tuesday at West Flamingo Park.

“I know a lot of pitchers focus on (strikeouts),” Winter said of Harmon. “But strikeouts come because she makes quality pitches. Mandy knows she has a good defense behind her and she wants to make quality pitches.”

Shadow Ridge (11-9) will play Madison (Calif.) at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the Copper Bracket semifinal. Green Valley (14-5) will play Desert Oasis in the consolation game at 11 a.m.

Down by three in the bottom of the fifth, Green Valley threatened with runners on second and third after doubles by Carly Smith and Katharine Conti. But Harmon struck out Carly Aughney with a rise ball.

The Gators put runners at the corners in the sixth on a single, an error, a wild pitch and a walk, but Harmon struck out Kayla Anderson looking to end the inning.

“Mandy Harmon is a good pitcher,” said Gators coach Lauren Taylor, whose team had one hit in a 17-0 loss to Shadow Ridge earlier this season. “Seeing as how last time I can count on one hand how many girls we had on base, the girls played tremendously.”

Green Valley played almost the entire game without second baseman and No. 3 hitter Jacqui Cappuccilli, who was ejected in the first inning for a jewelry violation, according to Taylor. That forced Kayla Anderson to shift to second and Aughney to come off the bench for Cappuccilli.

Shadow Ridge took a 3-0 lead in the first inning when Harmon had a run-scoring double, Ashley Huddleston had an RBI single and Mary Jordan had a sacrifice fly.

Rae-Ann Bohm went 3-for-4 for the Mustangs, who had lost all three games in pool play.

“We needed it,” Winter said. “This is a testament to their readiness. Green Valley is a team we know, so the girls got a little extra prepared mentally.”

Cathedral (Calif.) 13, Shadow Ridge 6 — Huddleston homered for the Mustangs, but it wasn’t enough as Shadow Ridge finished fourth in its pool.

Cathedral scored six runs in the top of the seventh to break open a 7-5 game.

Mira Mesa (Calif.) 7, Green Valley 3 — Ali Bodnar had an RBI triple for the Gators, but a five-run first inning by Mira Mesa was too much to overcome.

Birmingham (Calif.) 9, Valley 0 — Valley couldn’t manage a hit against Birmingham’s Mariah Marden, who faced 14 Vikings at the plate in a Bronze Bracket game.

Only three Valley hitters reached base, none getting past second.

“After all of the games we’ve played this season, we have never played like this,” coach Leslie Samson said. “Taking nothing away from Marden, we just didn’t show up.”

Valley meets Mar Vista (Calif.), a 6-2 loser to Clark, in the consolation round at 11 a.m.

Of the six local teams in the tournament, only two are still alive to win their bracket. Host school Clark advanced to the Bronze semifinal, while Shadow Ridge will take on Madison in the semifinal round of the Copper Bracket.

Valley 13, El Capitan (Calif.) 4 — Lorena Villamar went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs to lead the Vikings to third place in their pool.

Jasmine Villamar and Vanessa Corona each finished 2-for-3 with two runs, while Zoe Galindo was 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Clark 6, Mar Vista (Calif.) 2 — Elisa Dawson went 2-for-3 and struck out 11 as the Chargers (9-8) advanced to the Bronze semifinals.

Dawson had a run-scoring double and Marisol Solis added a two-run single during a five-run first inning for Clark (9-8), which plays Birmingham at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Clark 11, La Jolla (Calif.) 2 — Dawson had six strikeouts and Anna Jaehn went 2-for-4 to lead the Chargers in the final game of pool play.

Hilltop (Calif.) 10, Cimarron-Memorial 1 — Hilltop scored eight runs in the first two innings, handing the Spartans their first loss of the tournament. Nora Murphy drove in Cimarron’s run.

Southwest (Calif.) 4, Cimarron-Memorial 3  — Megan Yerno’s two-run homer highlighted a three-run sixth by Southwest that sent Cimarron to the consolation round.

Cimarron’s Paige Savage homered in the seventh to cut the deficit to one.

Madison (Calif.) 11, Desert Oasis 6 — Madison scored six runs in the first inning and never looked back.

The Diamondbacks had five hits, including doubles by Lenzi Cram and Brooke Kutz.

Otay Ranch (Calif.) 5, Desert Oasis 3 — Otay Ranch took a 5-1 lead, helped by a three-run third inning, before holding off the Diamondbacks.

Holly O’Hara went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer for Desert Oasis.